I turn, and I see a huge Mantis behind me. It was nearly twice my size! It looked at me, its red eyes shining, boring a hole in my very soul. It staggered towards me, the pressure it was exuding was almost crushing me. It looked at me, before vanishing from my sight. I felt a sharp pain in my back, and I jumped away. That bastard had cut me! I turned around and rushed the bigger Mantis. I slashed with my enhanced blades, and I managed to cut off one of its legs. It screeched, slashing at me. As it got closer, time seemed to slow. I could see certain points glowing red. I ducked back, avoiding the slash, and I cut at one of the points on its arm. My blade sliced through its chitin like a hot knife through butter. Its arm came flying off, lodging itself into a tree nearby. Green blood spurted from the wound, and it slashed at me again.
Cocky in my ability, I lean back and slash again. It slices through, but I receive some damage. It hurt like hell, but nothing I hadn't felt in my old life. I pushed the Mantis away, before crossing my blades across it's neck and decapitating it. I heard a loud ding, and saw a system panel open.
[You have gained 5 levels! Congratulations on defeating a Mantis Queen!]
You have received the title [Man-]
System ERROR.
Recalibrating…
You have received the title [Mantis Emperess]!
Levels: 5/10]
"Empress? I'm a guy! What- oh you're kidding! I'm a female mantis? Ugghhh what bullshit! And what are these levels? Am I gonna like rank up or evolve or something? Ooh that would be cool! Maybe I could be like a samurai mantis or something. Hmm.. if there are levels.. maybe there's a status menu? Status!"
Status Menu
[Name: None]
[True Name: #######]
[Class: None]
[Subclass: None]
[Species: Red Eyed Mantis]
[Stats:
Strength - 12
Agility - 9
Defense - 8
Stamina - 7
Mana - 0
Intelligence - 5
Fortitude - 8
Charisma - 0
Luck - 0]
[Skills]
[Items]
[Magic]
[Shop]
"Woah! It actually exists! Huh. I didn't expect that. Oh! Shit! I forgot to eat the mantis! Let me do that.."
I waddled over and chowed down on the mantis, earning a few skills along the way, along with a fresh new Title.
[Title earned: Heartless Cannibal.
Skills Earned:
Mantis Que- ERROR- Mantis Empress Aura
Stealth Mastery
Mantis Empress Berserk Mode
Rapid Regeneration
Mantis Empress Regal Chitin Armor]
"What? What the hell is a 'Mantis Empress?' Is that what that other mantis was?"
That was honestly quite surprising. I hadn't expected to get these. Some sounded quite strong, like [Rapid Regeneration], or [Mantis Empress Regal Chitin Armor]. It was a mouthful, but it seemed somewhat useful. Activating it, strong dark green plates seemed to grow from my exoskeleton, and I could see my defense stat raising by a whopping 50 points! Although, it dropped my speed stat by more than half. A reasonable trade-off, in my opinion. After I deactivated the skill, a part of the armor still remained. A chitinous crown rested on my head, a sign of my Emperor title, perhaps? Still, it was… quite strange.
After testing out all of my awesome skills, I concluded that I should definitely eat everything I find at least once. Now, I was feeling a little hungry, so I decided to wander the forest. I came across a little caterpillar, colored green and purple. I decided to eat it, of course. And, thanks to my new Iron Belly skill, I gained quite a few skills.
[You have gained the following skills:
Caterpillar Heightened Regeneration
Nature Whisperer
Alchemy]
[You have killed a Green Forest Caterpillar! You have gained 3 levels!]
[Level: 8/10]
[The God of Death is watching you.
You have received the Blessing of Thanatos.]
"Huh? What the hell? Why are these gods watching me? I haven't even done anything! This is bullshit! What the hell even is this skill anyways?"
[Blessing of Thanatos:
This skill grants the user the ability to pierce an enemy and absorb their soul. By absorbing the soul, the user gains all of the skills, magic, and titles of the enemy absorbed. They can also gain an extra skill at random, based on the soul of the creature.]
"This is cheating! There's- how- what the hell! I thought you said that this was harder! What the hell, man!"
Well, nothing I can do about that now, is there. I decide to trek through the forest, see what else I can find. I came across a group of these strange white and gold butterflies, which had 6 wings for some reason. I got some nice skills, that would hopefully come in handy.
[You have gained the following spells and skills:
Holy Butterfly 6 Wings Creation
Holy Magic High Affinity
Light Magic High Affinity
Holy Magic
Light Magic
Holy Butterfly Holy Jaws]
Woah, wing creation? Holy magic? What the hell? These butterflies were definitely hacking! I can see no other reason for why they would have holy magic!
Calming myself, I continued. I walked for what felt like hours, until I came across a large village woven into the branches of the trees. Intricate webs connected each branch, and there were large silk tents close to the trees, as well. Large spiders danced across the webs, more graceful than I could ever imagine. When they spotted at me, I could have sworn they ogled. It seems they weren't used to seeing such hot mantises around, and I made them speechless with my über hotness. Yeah, totally.
As I was holding my staring contest with the spiders- and totally winning- one dropped down. This one was different from the others. It was more.. muted. It had an air to it that screamed authority to me. Then, it spoke.
"Hail, strange mantis! Welcome to the Silk-Weaver's Den! We hope you have no I'll intentions with your visit. Might you come up and join us? We have.. other foods, if you prefer another diet."
Woah, they can talk! Shocker, I thought all of the creatures here were mean and wanted to kill me.
"Yes, of course, your spider-ship! I have no protests in joining you. I look forward to it, actually. It's quite a relief to find more.. civilized company here."
The old spider chuckled. As it climbed back up it's web, it called for a web to be lowered for me. Seeing no reason to reveal my skill, which I suspect they might possess, I went along with it.
It was an amazing view from the web, a bustling community where everyone- that being around 30 spiders- was kind and courteous to everyone else. I followed the elder spider to it's tent, which was the largest in the little town. When he- she?- spoke, their voice sounded weary.
"Well, strange mantis, while your visit is strange indeed, you are not unwelcome here. We will do our best to help you in your stay, and perhaps share information with you, should you desire."
Information? That sounded useful. I really wanted to know where I was, what I was, and what the hell is going on.
"Uh, yeah. I would like some information, actually. That being, what am I, what are you, where are we, and why is everything trying to kill me?"
The spider nodded, as if they knew my dilemma. Which was odd, I wasn't used to being relatable.
"I see. You must have lost your memory. Well, my friend. You are a Red Eyed Mantis, one of the weaker predators in this forest. I, and my friends outside, are Silk-Weaver Spiders. Specifically, we are known as Gilded Silk-Weavers, due to our tendency to shine gold in certain lighting. We are in a place known as the Cursed Woods, a place filled with monsters. As for the violence, those are the feral beasts. Most, if not all, of us are sentient, however some live for the thrill of combat, their heart beats for the feeling of death in their… appendages. Does that answer your questions?"
Yes, actually. It answered a lot. Man, this old spider was really helpful! Maybe I could stay with them for a bit, use this as, like, my base of operations? Like in those cool superhero movies I used to watch as a kid!
"Yes, that does help. And thank you for your hospitality, I don't think I've mentioned that."
The spider smiled. Or, I think it smiled. It was a spider, it was kind of hard to tell.
"Yes, of course! Now, I believe our feast is ready. Come, won't you, enjoy our festives!"
I nodded and followed. We ate and partied into the night, and I had lots of fun. It was really great, reminding me of my past life. Plus, I earned some great skills from the feast, too.
[You have obtained the following skills:
Silk-Weaver Spider 8 Eyes Creation
Arachnid 6th Sense
Silk-Weaver Spider 8 Legs Creation]
Woah, wait. The spiders were.. eating other spiders… that's like, kinda cannibalism. Now I'm not an expert on spider laws, but I don't really think that's allowed… but, hey, it's their culture. I won't say anything. I decided to go out and hunt until I reached level 10. I didn't score any fun skills, though. Actually, I didn't get any. Which was weird; I usually get one or two every time I eat a new creature. Anyways, I finally fell asleep, after a long time.
[Evolution requirements have been met. Initializing branches.]
.
.
[Personalizing options]
.
.
[Complete. Choose evolutionary path from options listed below.
Chitinous Mantis Berserker
A very physical and melee based option. Grants a +2 in Strength and Defense. However, you gain a weakness to magic.
Evolution options: Low
Mantis Sage
A magic-based option.
Grants a +2 in Intelligence and Fortitude.
However, your body shrivels and you become weak to all attacks.
Evolution options: Mid
Everblazing Holy Mantis
A species that has never existed previously. You are the first of it's kind. Grants a +1 to all stats, aside from Luck. Grants the Title [First of a Species], which grants an additional +1 to all stats. You gain High Affinity for Fire and Holy Magic, as well as High Fire and Holy Resistance. You will also gain an assortment of skills.
Evolution options: Very High]
"Woah! This is awesome! I actually get to evolve! I need to consider my options here. It seems that the first two are standard evolutions, being physical or magical. And the third, it seems to be an evolution based on my skills. Well, since it gives me 2 extra magic affinities, the best option would be the [Everblazing Holy Mantis]!
[Evolution confirmed. Updating status.]
.
.
.
[Complete. Initializing metamorphosis{
.
.
I never heard the completion chime, I had already fallen into a deep slumber. When I awoke, something had changed…